Work Sample: Powered by Compass Data Tools
Introduction
- I was a chemistry teacher at Valor College Prep High School for two years before pursuing a masters degree in Data Science and Analytics at Georgetown University. While in graduate school, I served as the Executive Assistant to the Principal and then, currently, as the Special Projects Manager. In these roles, I have worked closely with the school’s leadership team on several initiatives such as this one.
- In my recent professional career, I have developed other products of which I am very proud. If desired, please see the following links for information about the other projects:
Data-Driven Goal Setting Automated Data Analysis Building Operations Dashboard Sample Project Plans Georgetown Bootcamp TA Management School-Based Duties Scheduling
Powered by Compass Executive Training Program Data Tools
Executive Summary
- Context: Valor Collegiate Academies has a nationwide leadership training program that currently serves 42 schools and over 10,000 students. Valor reached out to me as a contractor because they needed more user-friendly software for managing the data for the program’s success. Their ideal solution would connect teacher-level data to school-level data, and ultimately school-level data to the superadmin level where Valor’s leadership coaches could monitor school progress. The solution also needed to be scalable and easy to use for teachers and principals who are not data experts.
- Research & Analysis: I met several times with one of Valor’s executive coaches to better understand the team’s needs. The executive coach also conducted interviews with school principals and administrators so we could build a scalable, user-friendly system.
- Strategic Planning: Based on the rounds of feedback and user interviews, I focused on designing a user-centric, scalable product, integrating various data metrics through Google Sheets and Apps Script to overcome the challenge of data cohesion.
- Implementation & Results: I implemented a multi-tiered data structure requiring minimal upkeep after launch, resulting in a scalable, highly praised data management system across all partner schools. I am including this project because I am proud of the enduring value it provides to the organization. I am also proud of this project because it demonstrates the power of collaboration and responding to feedback in service of a better solution. While this work is focused on strategic planning for educational organizations, its principles apply to any area of commercial or nonprofit activity.
Individual Teacher (Mentor) Dashboard
At the core of Valor’s leadership program is equipping principals and teachers to run “Circle”. Students are required to present three different pieces of social and emotional “work” throughout the year in circle and need to be scheduled evenly. This dashboard creates the student presentation schedule automatically and helps teachers know which students are “on deck” to present in the coming weeks
Example Mentor Dashboard
Click the button to view an example (fake) mentor dashboard. This dashboard is a live view of all the students in a mentoring/advisory course. At schools in Valor’s leadership training program, every student participates in this process. The dashboard also shows the mentor which students are “on deck” to present in the coming weeks and the class’s overall progress toward completing all presentations. Note: the metrics can sometimes take a minute to load.
Evaluation: Teacher Observation (Walkthrough) Form
Valor’s leadership program requires principals to conduct weekly teacher observations (walkthroughs) and provide feedback to teachers on Circle. This form allows principals to quickly enter their observations and feedback–even from their phones–and then stores data in the all-school data systems.
Teacher Observations (Walkthroughs) Dashboard
The Google Form results feed into the principal’s and the teacher’s dashboards immediately after submission. Principals are able to see a reverse-chronological view of all teacher observation (walkthrough) scores on its own tab. This view can aid in tracking long-term teacher development and schoolwide trends.
Principal Dashboard
Principals need to support dozens of teachers at running high quality circles as part of the leadership program. Teachers’ individual dashboards feed into the principal dashboard in a simple view. From there, principals can identify which staff members may need more support and can target their efforts accordingly. At the top of the dashboard, principals can track their school’s progress toward end-of-year metrics in a live view.
